Town Plan of Glasgow – Queen Street Station and George Square

Town plan sheets covering the city centre can, unsurprisingly, offer many locations of interest. In this case Queen Street Station, George Square and the City Chambers feature prominently. Upon closer inspection we can also see intriguingly named places such as the Night Asylum, an Electric Lighting Station and the Western Club.

Sheet VI.II.6 of the Town Plan of Glasgow showing Queen Street Station, George Square and the City Chambers in the 1890s.

The Night Asylum for the Houseless was a charitable institution set up in 1838 for the purpose of providing shelter for the homeless. Originally based on St. Enochs Wynd it could cater for up to 100 people. As the homeless population in the city increased the need for an additional site became urgent. In 1847 the North Frederick Street Night Asylum shown on this map opened and was instituted a year later.

In the late 19th century electric lighting was still somewhat rare in Glasgow. Until the 1890s the fixtures for the illuminated locations in the city were powered from unambiguously named ‘Electric Lighting Stations’ located throughout the city. A central power station was opened in Waterloo Street in 1892 and by the time this sheet was revised in 1893 the Electric Lighting Stations in the city had either been closed or were in the process of being closed.

The Western Club, originally founded as the Badger club in 1825, took up residence at 147 Buchanan Street in 1842. Its members enjoyed a fine location for business in the heart of the city. After over 100 years in residence the Western Club moved to a new home in 1968 and this impressive building was used as offices until in 2007 it was refurbished and became home to Scotlands first Apple store.

This is another fine example of the Town Plan series providing a snapshot of the evolution of Glasgow. Features like the City Chambers, Queen Street Station and the Square can catch the eye when looking at these maps but looking a little closer can sometimes reveal smaller details of Glasgows history.

The zoomable version of this map can be viewed by clicking the image above or by clicking here. If you have any questions about this map, or any other maps held by the University Library, feel free to contact the Maps, Official Publications and Statistics Unit.